Words, language, editing

“Oh my”: Could we stop using this cliche?

“The Wizard of Oz” movie came out more than 75 years ago. It’s a classic of American cinema, but it’s also been around long enough for wordplay based on lines from the movie to have become tiresome and worn-out.

Oh my, this cliche needs to die.

Specifically, I’m talking about “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!”

“A and B and C, oh my” seems to pop up far too regularly in news stories, marketing, ad copy and the like. It is not fresh. It is not clever. And it’s particularly annoying when the copycat phrase doesn’t even follow the rhythm of the original (ONE-two and ONE-two and ONE, oh my).

Here are some examples from just the past few months (thanks to my mom for sharing some of these):

A collection of “A and B and C, oh my” phrases from journalism, advertising, marketing and other professional writing.

There are others, such as “not in Kansas anymore,” “Ding dong, the witch is dead!” and “and your little dog too” that are overused. Being in Kansas, I may be a bit more sensitive about this, but really, “Wizard of Oz” references are no longer funny or interesting.

So please, could every professional writer oust this construction from their toolbox forever? It’s time to come up with something original.